Objective: To investigate the clinical features of Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) according to the Montreal classification.
Methods: The clinical data of 110 cases of CD or UC were reviewed. The age at diagnosis, location and clinical behavior were assessed with the Montreal criteria.
Results: CD patients diagnosed at an age younger than 16 years were rare (3.6%), the majority of the CD patients was diagnosed at 17 - 40 years old (65.5%). Although ileocolon lesions were most common in the patients diagnosed at 17 - 40 years old (37.3%), yet ileum lesions were a little more than those of other parts of digestive tract in the patients diagnosed after 40 years old (14.5%), the difference was not significant (P = 0.054). Stricture frequently occurred (50.4%), especially when the lesions were located at ileum or ileocolon. Perforation rarely happened (5.3%). There was no significant difference between different location groups for clinical behaviors (P = 0.096). The incidence of stricture or perforation was almost same among different age groups (P = 0.984). UC patients mostly presented with mild or moderate symptoms even in the group with extensive lesion. UC patients with severe symptoms were rare (6.8%). There was no significant difference in severity between the groups with different extent of lesion (P = 0.056).
Conclusions: The majority of CD patients was diagnosed at 17 - 40 years old. Stricture is much more than perforation, penetrating, occurring mostly at ileum. UC patients mostly present mild or moderate symptoms, no matter how extensive the lesion is. The extent of the lesion detected with colposcopic examination is not correlated to the severity of clinical manifestations.